Lección 1
Elements Of Mystical Experience
In this first lesson, we'll explore one definition and several elements of mystical experience. Mystical experience defined: a beneficial state of connection with a transcendent presence much larger than your individual self. Elements include serendipitous timing, an inner sense of knowing beyond intellect, and an indescribable feeling of transcending ordinary life.
I'll introduce a simple breathing technique that will enhance your practice as you move through the course. We'll expand our understanding of how this breath practice works and add other dimensions to it as we progress through the course.
We'll complete Day 1 with a passage meditation on the Aramaic translation of the Lord's Prayer which includes verses like this: "Lose the cords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strands we hold of others guilt."
Lección 2
What Are You Attuned To?
Our topic today is attunement which Webster defines as “to bring into harmony.” Have you ever noticed how certain music evokes a feeling of peace, joy, or love? Some people and places can have a similar effect. Those are examples of attunement.
Through some invisible process, the energy of that piece of music, that person’s demeanor, or the essence of a specific place resonates and harmonizes or attunes with that potential in you – which then activates a similar state of being. This same inner response can happen in harmful ways as well when you encounter angry music, alarming news, or places of trauma. Understanding that dynamic makes it vitally important to be aware of and intentional about what you take in each day.
Lao Tzu's "Holding to the Constant" is the passage used for meditation.
Lección 3
Conscious Breath
Today, we’ll learn about the benefits of conscious breathing, a technique to improve your meditation when practiced diligently. We’ll also explore the metaphor of breath as spirit. One of the counterintuitive truths of cultivating mystical encounters is that self-mastery of mind and body serves to shrink the ego. Mastering intentional breathing is the first step in that process of self-mastery.
Quiet mind and peaceful body create room for the inner stillness necessary for mystical experience.
"The Lord of Life" from the Upanishads is the inspiring passage used for this lesson's meditation.
Lección 4
The Power Of Mantras
In this lesson, we’ll learn about mantrams or mantras – their history, meaning, and benefits. There are different types and uses – for our purposes we’ll focus on mantram as holy name or prayer word. Webster defines mantra as “mystical formula of invocation.” These invocations, or prayer words, have been used for centuries by spiritual practitioners of many traditions – as a way to clear the mind of distractions and focus attention on a higher power.
One very common issue among all meditation practitioners is distracting thoughts, sensations, and emotions. Mantrams provide a simple effective antidote to distraction by giving you a word to focus on and return to gently each time the mind wanders. Using a word with sacred meaning enhances the effect – especially with consistent practice.
Spiritual masters have used mantrams for centuries to attain higher states of being. These potentials for inner calm, intuitive wisdom, and loving expression are within you now. Regular use of a sacred name or meaningful descriptor has been proven to declutter the thinking mind and open a channel to this inner higher power.
Swami Ramdas' beautiful passage "The Central Truth" is the text used in this lesson's meditation.
Lección 5
The Power Of Love - Capital L
Today, we’re contemplating Love – capital L. What does Love with a capital L mean to you? “Love – capital L is a state of being in connection with our Higher Self – is demonstrated through action, and more felt experience than mental understanding.
It’s important to approach this topic at that level of felt experience – not just intellectual comprehension – but felt sense in the body. Many mystics, saints, and sages through the ages spoke of union with this mysterious Divine Force – Love – capital L.
The Sufi poet Rumi wrote, “Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.” How do we do that? For years, I believed that love was a byproduct – an involuntary response that was sometimes available and often elusive. Mothers had it more for their children than anyone – and lovers had it for each other – pause – until it faded as they “fell out of love.” With study and practice, I’ve come to understand it’s more nuanced than that. Love can be cultivated – like a garden.
We'll use several lovely poems from the Sufi Mystic poet Hafiz as inspiration for this lesson's passage meditation.
Lección 6
Life Is A Shared Mystical Experience
So much of life today support the worldview of separate individual finite lives in a material universe. From this perspective – evolution is a purely physical phenomenon while consciousness, wisdom, and love are temporary byproducts produced by neurochemical processes in the human brain. But are we looking at it backwards?
Neuroscientist Dr. Tony Nader in his book “One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness: Simple Answers to the Big Questions in Life” puts it this way: Consciousness is not a product of a nervous system, a brain, a body, or anything- it is the fundamental reality.
What do you believe and how does that affect your life? I encourage you to invest time in answering that question for yourself.
Lección 7
Ask, Act & Allow
Mystical experiences come in many forms and can be seen with eyes of curiosity or a framework of disagreement. It's your choice. In fact, that’s one of your most valuable life gifts – choosing your own understanding. I choose to walk in the footsteps of the poets, prophets, and teachers and see with eyes of wonder.
That path and these practices have given me a growing number of episodes of conscious contact with a power greater than myself. Though each one has been different, there are commonalities between all of them: each is beyond comprehension in a logical framework, elude precise description, and was marked by a profound felt experience of wordless wonder.
My guess is since you’re listening to this course – you’ve had similar times in your life and would like more. I encourage you to continue seeking them and include this formula in your practice: ask, act, and allow.
Ask for opportunities to experience connection with Divine Mystery. Act on the intuitive nudges you receive. And allow the mystical experience to come to you in its own time. Find trusted friends and loved ones to help you cultivate this capacity. Don’t give up.
